The photo, which has since been removed from his feed, showed Bieber standing in front of the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates Japan's 2.5 million war dead — including several convicted war criminals — with the caption "Thank you for your blessings." China and South Korea both view the shrine as glorifying Tokyo's wartime aggression as Japan occupied wide swaths of China and the Korean peninsula during World War II, not to mention that whole pesky war crimes bit.

Chinese and South Korean fans were incensed and let the Biebs know how they felt about his misstep. One wrote, "The Yasukuni shrine is dedicated to [those who] killed countless Chinese prisoners... Japanese planned Nanjing massacre killed tens of thousands of people [in] China. Please face up to history. As a Chinese... I am so sad that you visited the Yasukuni Shrine."

Added another, "Maybe you are a giant in Japan and thats the reason why you like Japan. Anyway, please don't come to China forever, we really don't like stupid people."

"While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine," he explained. "I was mislead [sic] to think the Shrines were only a place of prayer. To anyone I have offended I am extremely sorry. I love you China and I love you Japan."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that while he was not aware of Bieber's visit to the controversial site, he hopes the whole thing was a huge learning experience. "I hope that this Canadian singer after visiting the Yasukuni Shrine can have a clear understanding of Japan's history of invasion and militarism, and of the source of Japan's militarism."